Can I make these parts with an HDM?



In this 2nd

pic, I’m talking about the vertical bar part. It’s probably 4" tall, 3" deep, and 2-3" diameter. Max.

I don’t see why not. As long as the part will fit in the 27"x21"x6" envelope & you have adequate workholding. I would recommend coolant, like a mist system.
Here’s some aluminum parts I’ve made.





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Wow, those look fantastic! Great job! In the 3rd photo did you use the HDM to make those threads also?

All those parts are aluminum correct?

That is very nice work @Tod1d. I really like the clean lines of the impeller. Recently, I was considering using two-sided milling for a project but your IMG_1140_sm suggested to me that I could potentially make the project (an aluminium chess set) in identical halves. What was the grade of aluminium that you were using for your parts? I find that I like the workability, machinability and the strength of T6 materials like 6061.

Thanks. It’s all 6061 T6, except the oil cooler bell housing, which you can see the finish isn’t quite what I would have liked. Fully Functional & accurate, just not ‘pretty’ :slight_smile:
the 6061 cuts really nice on these machines with O-Flute tools. I even bought some O-flute ball mills.

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Yup, I have a good range of them but have not used 0 flute ball mills. It is good old Rennie tools for my carbide ballnose endmills that are specifically for cutting aluminium. See here for sizes 1mm ~ 20mm:

For sizes from 0.2mm ~ 0.9mm for cutting aluminium, Rennie has this range of ballnose endmills: All of these smaller sizes are priced at a very reasonable £5.29 ($6.73) per piece including taxes.

All are relatively good value and very good jobbers quality so some cutters I have had almost 9 months use from.

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